Yes it is true – the first round of 24 pre-registration slots for Saturday night’s extreme throwdown were gone in just a few hours! 24 more slots will be available on a first come first serve basis at the venue beginning at 7:00 pm:

Attention spro-slingers, microfoam marauders and all manner of coffee geek in the NorthEastern United States!

This is a call to arms for those daring, devious and dashing enough to stand to the challenge of becoming the
GREATEST LATTE ARTIST in ALL THE LAND!

Come join the NYC coffee community for one night of debaucherous, milk-crazed madness in the GREATEST LATTE ART OF ALL TIME!

But be wary! For it is not we who decide our fate, but the sinister WHEEL OF DESTINY!

The great barista callers are challenged to pour, head-to-head, the design fated them by the venerable wheel.

The designs are simple: heart, multi-layered tulip or rosetta.

Those who pour with patience, precision and polish will advance through the ranks towards their ultimate fate –
a glorious adventure to the origins of some of the worlds greatest beans: BRAZIL! A tour de force of the Octavio Cafe, the Sao Paolo cafe scene, and the Nossa Senhora Aparecida farm in the Alta Mogiana region all await the victor.

Those who crumble under the great pressures of sport must walk into the night alone, but with great resolve!

So, for those of you who have what it takes, stand tall and represent this great region in what the history books shall
surely recognize as the GREATEST LATTE ART CHALLENGE OF ALL TIME!

What’s more important to a busy New Yorker than a good cup of coffee? That was my thought process when I got invited to this coffee-centric dinner and drinks event last week, hosted by Alma 33 and Dallis Bros Coffee. The event was to promote the coffee from Octavio Cafe, named the best cafe in Sao Paolo, Brazil in 2009 and 2010. From start to finish, our drinks and dishes were laced with a bit of Octavio coffee and served with either a coffee-based cocktail or a cup of smooth and nutty espresso. Aside from the effects coffee and cocktails will have on your bladder, it was a lovely tasting and I learned so much about coffee! I had no idea it could get so involved. They showcased three different brewing methods on these contraptions that you would expect to see in some crazy, mad scientist’s lab. I have a Keurig Mini – it’s all I can handle. This is embarrassing to admit, but despite my cooking skills, I still don’t know how to make coffee. There, I said it. My mom is probably reading this and shaking her head in shame…

Here today we were very pleased to receive Herb Dallis, who was second generation owner of Dallis Bros. Coffee. Herb’s father Morris, together with his brother Abe, founded Dallis Bros. Coffee in 1913 selling coffee house-to-house in Queens and Long Island. Herb took over the business and throughout the 20th century expanded the wholesale sales and made it into one of the leading artisanal coffee companies in the Northeast.

Herb is also living proof that drinking coffee does good to you. At [undisclosed age], he walks, talks and does more than most people I know.

This year we are proudly hosting the North East Regional Barista Championship! The event is taking place in New York City for the first time, at the gorgeous Milk Studios, 450 W 15th Street – 8th Floor, Studio D New York, NY 10011 between April 7th to 10th.

Don’t miss the opportunity to participate in what is going to be arguably the hottest coffee event in the last decade in New York City!

From the NERBC website:

The United States Barista Championship (USBC) is a national competition designed to highlight the craft of the barista and espresso-based beverage production. The annual competition cycle consists of 6 regional events that lead up to the US Barista Championship. The winner of each competition will have proven their professionalism, passion and skill through various criteria as outlined in the USBC Rules and Regulations. In a 15 minute presentation, competitors will prepare and serve three courses of espresso based beverages to a panel of four sensory judges. Two technical judges will score competitors on procedures, consistency, cleanliness and other technical details. The top six from each regional event will be granted entry into the 2011 USBC.